Miss Luna and Torian sat on a high rock, close to the fire, and Lark went out into the forest for a walk. Digit was cooped inside his tent. Kiera and Jasper were talking to each other, sitting side by side near one of the tents, a little away from the fire, just enough to keep their conversation private. His eyes couldn't look at her directly while sweating all over and rubbing one of his hands on the hilt of his sword. I decided not to look at them any longer. With me taking the lead, Drevin and Halia helped me cook curry and vegetables for dinner. I was surprised they knew how to cook. They were far from amateurs at this point. Halia was clumsy at times, going overboard with cutting too many of the ingredients and unintentionally wasting a few peppers, but Drevin was watching her the whole time, teaching her in the process while also doing his part of the work with ease. I thought it would be very hard to cook for this group all by myself, but it was much easier compared to when I travelled with Lark. I put the food in wooden bowls and handed them to both, who in turn gave it to the others.
I looked at their expressions while they took their first bite. It wasn't grandiose, but I felt at ease as there were no complaints about the taste. Drevin gave me a wink after taking his share, and Halia gave me a thumbs up and quickly ran up behind her brother. Lark returned just in time, and I had to make pork ribs separately for him because of his high demands. Miss Luna went to sleep in the bigger tent out of four after finishing her meal, and Lark followed her inside. In a seemingly disgusting face, she came out a while later and went into a smaller tent, closing it from inside. Torian unsheathed his sword and went inside the one where Lark was present in anger, only to come out moments later with fumes rising from his head. I went to cool him down. The three siblings, Drevin, Halia, and Kiera, along with Jasper, sat in a circle before the bonfire, and we joined them. I could only guess what happened inside, and I wasn't bothered to ask anything. Before cleaning and packing up the utensils, I went to hand Digit the food myself, but he took the bowl extending his hand out of his tent, and closed it before I could say anything more. I didn't even get to see his face or what he was doing inside his tent. I thought he was feeling anxious in his own way and decided not to bother him.
I joined the group outside. A small fire in the middle. Acting as our companion on this lonely, cold night. I stretched out my body, letting a small yawn escape from my mouth along with the day's fatigue that caught up a little. The darkness only became thicker as the blanket of dense mist and trees justified the name of this place. "You are very good at cooking, Mister Carter," Halia said from my right.
"You are already better than most people your age, Halia."
"I wouldn't say that." She let out an awkward smile while fiddling with her long brownish-golden hair. "My brother is the one who is good at most things. He cooks. He does household chores, and even though we are all Bronze ranks, he is the sole provider of our house. That says a lot. I'd say even Kiera is better than me at most things. She is smart." Her eyes were fixed on the wavy figure of the fire that danced through the night. "I want to help them, but I end up acting clumsy and becoming the one who needs help at the end of the day."
"Don't belittle yourself, Halia. I, myself, learned these things a few years ago. And let me tell you, I am very bad at household chores, unlike my little sister and your brother. You should have seen the look on my sister's face when I broke a chair in the name of cleaning one time."
"I don't believe you, Mister Carter. You are telling me this to comfort me, aren't you? I can't see you struggling at those things." She gave a soft smirk, replacing the gloomy expression from before.
"Why would I? And one time, when I made dried pollack soup, it turned out so bad that I had to cancel a guild commission because of that. It was pretty embarrassing, and my sister kept on scolding me for wasting costly ingredients. I still couldn't forget the night; I slept dreaming about dried pollack soup on an empty stomach."
"Your sister is really strict, huh?"
"Tell me about it." I shook my head, recollecting the memory of that day, which has remained crystal clear till now.
"Is Maya beautiful, Mister Carter?"
"She is the sweetest and most mature little girl I could ever ask for. She tends to go a little overboard with her unnecessary worrying sometimes, but I also get why she is like that."
"It sounds like you really love each other."
I smiled. "To our brothers, you little sisters are well beyond gold. Isn't that right, Drevin?"
"You are damn right, Mister Carter!" Drevin chimed in from her right and turned Halia's face towards him. "You are my responsibility, Halia. If you don't make mistakes, then who will? Our mother may not be with us, but we three are there for each other, aren't we?" He gave her a small hug and combed her hair with his hand.
Maybe I should have visited Maya once. "By the way, I don't remember telling my sister's name to you, Halia."
Turning to me, she wiped out the welling tears in her eyes. "It was Mister Lark."
"I don't think I've mentioned that to him, though." Or did I? "What more did he say?"
"That you are very bad as an adventurer but very good at taking care of others? You should have been a nanny instead of fighting monsters, is what he said." She let out a smile, searching for my reaction.
"Haa… Don’t go near him. He isn’t as good as you think." I threw a few twigs into the fire, and it continued to burn.
"Yet, you are friends with him, Mister Carter?"
"A friend, huh? Yeah, that's what I am to him."
"I heard he is very strong, unlike others of his age. Is that true?" I looked at Halia, whose eyes were nothing but curious.
"I want to know that too." Drevin joined in from beside her, leaning forward, staring at me as her sister, waiting for me to answer.
"He is strong. But that doesn't make him good. I am not saying he is bad, but he isn't particularly... you know?" I tried to signal at Drevin with my eyes.
"So, how strong?" But my thoughts weren't conveyed in the least as he repeated the same thing over, with his sister nodding to his question and staring back at me.
"He is a Fifth Circle Mage. Strong enough to burn half of this forest if he really puts his mind to it, maybe."
"So he is invincible then? That's so great!" The girl blushed while saying that. I thought Drevin would say something to her about this, but he casually moved closer to Jasper and Kiera, who were blooming in their own little world, becoming closer and closer every other minute.
"What's so great about that?" I heard a murmur from my left. It was Torian, who still had that displeased look from before. "Miss Luna is the direct disciple of Miss Larissa and the current holder of the title The Dancing Blade. She is much stronger and nobler than that self-centred bastard could ever be." He tightened his fist as if to punch someone if permitted. "With no proper origins, how can that ruffian of a womaniser ever be compared to the only daughter of Viscount Nathan of Riverdale?" He scoffed, throwing a smirk at the end.
I couldn't comment on that and stayed silent as the fire died down. But something didn't sit right with me. "Sir Torian, if I am not being too rude, I understand how Lark can be sometimes—most of the time—but don't you think you are making him look like a fraud by dissuading the power he has as nothing?"
He gave me a side glance. "Are you speaking as the witness, Mister Carter?"
"Not only me; I think even you can't deny that after what he has shown us during our mission in the capital. I think, ignoring the damage he caused, the contribution from him exceeds that of Miss Luna."
"Don't support him." He clicked his tongue.
"Oh, trust me, that's the last thing I want to do for him. But I can't ignore it when you try to twist the facts. I understand it's not intentional, but there are more than a few of us here." I looked at others opposite us, on the other side of the bonfire. After disturbing their sweet moment, Drevin and Jasper were chatting about something, and the sisters Halia and Kiera were giggling while whispering back and forth in their ears. "And sometimes rumours spread to the point where they may be seen as facts. I thought you would be more mindful."
"You don't need to worry about that. I am a swordsman of the Winters family. The last thing I would do is cause trouble for Miss Luna. I would never forgive myself for that." He released a heavy breath and closed his eyes before opening them again. This time, he looked straight into my eyes. A small, indistinguishable smile, hidden underneath the partial darkness of the night, formed on his face. "I have thought about it before, but you are a nice person, Sir Carter." I felt embarrassed for a moment when he said that with a straight face. "These are not empty words. It takes more than empty courage to stand up for a friend. And when a guy like Mister Lark is involved, it only gets harder. Sir Carter. It may be too sudden to ask you this, but I would like to invite you to join me in serving the same master." He extended his hand towards me.
"Sir Torian, I don't think it is the time or place to make that kind of joke." My words came out blander than expected.
"Do I look like I am someone who does that?" His face was as serious as it ever could be. He gives off the impression of someone who sticks to the rules, no matter the situation. I assumed that was because of his job, but not everyone can be like that, even if they are in the same position. "You don't have to answer me now. Just know that we always have space for an upright person like you in our ranks."
"I don't know what to say. It's not that I support Lark, but it's part of his character. That's how he is. And I came to accept it the hard way. You may not have a good opinion of him, but he gets the job done. It is hard to accept, but I am nowhere as powerful as him." And I was content with what I was doing now. Even if it's something that has more risk and less reward,.
"It's not because of him that I am suggesting this to you. It's solely because of my views of you, Sir Carter. You don't give enough credit to yourself, but what you have is something beyond power or arrogance. It is more important for a person than you think. I think Miss Luna would need that—not the current me—but someone like you beside her. A person who would support her even if the whole world turns against her yet also sounds reasonable."
"You are making it seem too grand, Sir Torian." I was grateful for this night, which could hide my embarrassment. "And you are really worrying over nothing. Who would even dare to belittle her? That would be like inviting death to their doorstep. And you are always there beside her to see nothing like that happen." I said with a small laugh.
"I certainly do hope so." His eyes stared at the fire with a darkened expression, which he tried to hide immediately.
"What are you guys talking about so intently?" We didn't notice Halia, who came and stood before us, blocking the light from the fire. Behind her, I saw Jasper going into the empty tent, followed by Drevin.
"Guy things," I said, getting up myself.
"That's mean, Mister Carter. Won't you say anything, mister Torian?" She turned her gaze towards Sir Torian, who had returned to his regular stern expression.
"Let's go, Halia." Pulling her by the hand, Kiera and Halia both went to sleep in the tent with Miss Luna.
"It was nice talking to you, Sir Carter." Sir Torian said from my side. "Please be careful for your part of the mission tomorrow."
"It would have been a lot better if I didn't become a third wheel between those young buds," I said, scratching at my head.
"Certainly, you wouldn't." He gave me a pat on my shoulder.
Leaving out Digit on his own, in the end, all four tents were occupied. Sir Torian and I stayed silent for the remaining time we were on the night watch. And about two and a half hours later, I went and called out both Drevin and Jasper for their shifts. Drevin was struggling to keep his eyes open, but they both came out wearing their gear and sat beside the withering bonfire, leaning onto the tree. I went to sleep in the bigger tent, where Lark stayed, followed by Sir Torian right behind me. It made me happy to be acknowledged by someone for a change. The young, the weak, the strong, the desperate, the rich, and the poor become adventurers. It wasn’t a job with restrictions, but with a need. Everyone had their own stories, and each one had their own justification for how they turned out to be. And we still choose to travel on this path filled with danger and human connections. I have been one for five years, and I still find all kinds of people now and then. It was just a matter of perspective. Though I wonder, what was Sir Torain talking about? With a thought that had no answer, the lights were no more, and, reminiscing about the past, I slept, succumbing to the drowsiness.
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I suddenly woke up to a sound and came outside without disturbing others in my tent. It was still dark. Cold. The burnt smell of wood lingered in the air. I looked at the dark figure of Drevin, who was sleeping with his mouth open. He was holding his staff tightly with both his hands and leaning his back on a tree. All the other tents were closed, so I enhanced my sight with Aura and looked at them directly. Only the one belonging to Drevin and Jasper was empty. I went to Drevin and shook his body, but there was no sign of him waking up. "Drevin, wake up!" With an irritated moan, he opened his eyes, squinting a little, and looked straight into mine.
"Why are you using Aura?" He got up, rubbing his eyes, and a yawn left his mouth.
"Where is Jasper?" I asked.
He casually looked to his side, around him, and then back at me again. "Where is he?"
"You are supposed to be on watch with him. Didn't you hear him leave?" I asked.
"I closed my eyes just now, Mister Carter. We were supposed to divide the time and take turns. Could he have gone to pee?" He said with another yawn, looking deeper into the forest. I looked around and saw something near one of the trees. I went and picked it up. "Is this Mister Jasper's? Why is it on the ground?" It was an unsheathed longsword, with the blade reflecting my green Aura-covered eyes.
"I should be asking that of you." I threw a sharp glance at Drevin.
"You are right." His nonchalant way of answering slightly irritated me.
"Go and wake others," I said to Drevin, and I started checking for any signs of movements or sounds. I swept over a little area just to be sure I didn't miss anything, and found nothing that could explain this situation to me. There was no sign of life other than the ones inside the tents.
Everyone came out of their tents one after another, and Drevin explained the situation to them. Lark, who should have been the most irritated, closed his eyes for a moment before opening them and gathering our attention with a resounding clap. "I don't sense anyone in a three-mile radius." He directed his gaze at me. "When did you hear the sound?"
"Just now. Less than five minutes ago." I answered.
"What was so unusual that you decided to check?"
Everyone's eyes turned to me. I tried to think, but couldn't remember what type of sound it was. I closed my eyes in a hurry and tried to imagine. "I am sure it wasn't footsteps. It could be a scream. Could it be leaves bustling?"
"You are not sure, huh? Now that's a pain in the ass." I wanted to punch him, but I resigned myself. "The thing that bothers me is that I didn't hear anything." He looked at everyone, shifting his gaze from each one of them at a time and finally resting it on Miss Luna. "Did you hear anything, Luna?"
"Nothing." She shook her head.
"Hmm… Though so. Most of all, what was the other guy with him doing?" Lark looked at Drevin, who in turn looked at me, avoiding his gaze.
"I-I slept." His answer was meek. "We were supposed to take turns..."
"That's convenient."
"Anyway, a person can't go that far in just a few minutes." Miss Luna voiced her opinion.
"It means either he was fast enough to cover a distance more than the field of my Mana sense—man must be in quite a hurry—or, in an unlikely situation, dead." Lark's words changed the expressions of quite a few here. Drevin held his sisters close to him, and Digit was still thinking without a word to speak.
"But he can't be dead, right? I mean, he isn't weak enough to die without a proper struggle." I put out my opinion.
"The chance of him being dead without the presence of another entity is, as I said, quite unlikely." He concluded.
"Well, the same applies to your suggestion of him covering that distance in that short period of time. I, myself, am only confident that I can reach that on a zero-obstacle, straight path. That too, if I give it my all." If a powerful Aura user like Miss Luna says that, there is no way we could think otherwise. "Mister Carter, give me his sword for a second." I handed it to her, and she began to observe every inch of the blade and hilt, running her tender fingers across it. "If he unsheathed his sword, that means he was trying to defend himself from something or must have seen something."
"Then he is kidnapped?" Torian voiced his thoughts.
"And a silver-rank adventurer didn't fight back when he was being kidnapped?" Lark said as a remark. "Most of all, we didn't hear any of the commotion, which in a normal case would wake almost all of us present here." He gave me a quick glance. "That makes me come back to my previous question. Did you really hear nothing?" His words, sounding more like an order, pointed straight at Drevin, who was sweating already.
He patted both his sisters' heads and came forward to the centre, surrounded by all of us. We all looked at him, and none bothered to say anything in his defence. So did I. A guilty look was etched on his face. "No, Mister Lark. Not until Mister Carter came and woke me up, I didn't know Jasper was not with me." He couldn't make direct eye contact with Lark.
Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
"Did you kill him?" I couldn't contain my surprise, followed by Lark's question, and looked at him, who had a blank expression as if he didn't care for the type of answer that would come out of Drevin's mouth. "Tell me. I wouldn't ask for reasons if you confessed. Did you know that guy before?"
"Wh-Why would I? I was sleeping. I only know him through the conversation we had in the cart." He made hand gestures, breathing heavily and looking at everyone as if explaining his innocence. I could only tighten my fist at my inability.
"I think we should listen to him instead of accusing—"
"Did you kill him because he was hitting on your sister?" My words were cut off as he asked another question without giving Drevin any time to recover. "You are a crafty bastard, huh?" Lark let out a scoff and walked near Drevin, bending a little and peering into his face, gauging his reaction. "Where did you hide his body?"
"Be-Believe me, I-I really didn't…" His pleas fell on deaf ears. Everyone stared at him with cold eyes.
Halia and Kiera ran to Drevin, who was about to collapse from the sudden trembling in his legs, supporting him. "My brother isn't that kind of man. We believe him." Halia said, with an angry expression directed back at Lark. Kiera fiercely nodded to that statement, as if to make her own point. "Why are any of you not saying anything? You don't have proof to accuse my brother, and you all know he isn't powerful enough to get away unscathed even if he did try that stunt." Halia's anger echoed through her words. "Do you see any wounds on him?" She pulled the leather armour along with his clothes inside a bit to show it to everyone present here.
Lark walked past them and turned his face to look at their backs. Lark turned to face them. Drevin mumbled something under his breath repeatedly, and Lark observed him. "Is that your way of making us believe?" He said with another mocking grin.
"That's enough. Mister Lark, please refrain from saying anything further." Digit spoke for the first time. "We won't solve the matter like this."
"I agree. We shouldn't jump to any conclusions. Suspecting each other is the last thing we want to do here. Please restrain yourself." Miss Luna said, coming forward, followed by Sir Torian nodding by her side.
I went to Drevin and helped him get back on his feet. "M-Mister Carter… you believe me, don't you? I was sleeping, wasn't I?" He tightly gripped my hands, shaking them violently. For a moment, I felt pain where he intently grabbed me and in my heart for being such a coward.
"I believe you." Saying that, I turned to face Lark. "I believe him, Lark. He was not faking anything."
"Is that so? If you all say that, then maybe it is really true."
"For all we know, you could be the one who killed him." Torian's comment, directed towards Lark, was nothing but his overheated feelings.
"Why would I bother to kill some small fry? That would hurt my pride and reputation." Lark said as if it were a fact.
"If you have any, to begin with." Torian's counter remark invited a glare from Miss Luna, silencing him.
"Either way, if none of you killed him, going along with your theory, the kidnapper must be powerful enough to take that Jasper guy without any resistance." Lark pointed out.
"Could it be a monster?" I asked, seeing if anyone had similar thoughts. "We already suspected there were a few in this forest."
"True, but then what kind is the question?" Digit asked. "And I don't see anything that suggests a monster attack here. Not their tracks. Any claw marks and such."
"Even his sword doesn't have any blood." Miss Luna handed me Jasper's sword, saying that. "He could have gone into the forest when he sensed a presence. Monster or a human. Then again, his sword wouldn't be here if that were true." She considered the possibility but thought it was not possible herself.
"Carter. Where did you find that sword?" Digit asked me, and I took him to the place a few steps to the side. "Place it exactly how you remember." And I did it, although I wasn't sure. "Do you remember correctly? Was it really beside this tree?" He asked, and I nodded. We went back to the group, and Digit thought for a moment. "I don't know the reason he would unsheathe his sword, but I think Miss Luna's deduction is somewhat viable, albeit missing some details."
"What's that now?" Lark maintained his crude tone, but Digit didn't bother to correct him.
"I can't be sure." He said, shaking his head.
"Don't say it then. I get that the pipsqueak here was having his share of dreams, but how well were we sleeping to not notice anything? Only Carter woke up. What are the chances?"
"You don't mean to accuse Sir Carter, do you? He is your friend, and we slept in the same tent as you." Torian almost burst out.
"Just saying." But Lark's attitude was as haughty as ever, and he could care less.
"I was on night watch duty along with Sir Torian here. So I slept late. It must be because of that; I couldn't sleep well." I scratched the back of my head. I didn't feel hurt by Lark's words for some reason.
"You don't need to explain yourself, Sir Carter. I would bear witness to your innocence." I just thanked him.
"Shouldn't we search for him instead of this useless banter?" Halia said, still a bit of anger seeping out of her words. With this conversation going in all the wrong directions possible, we were wasting our time at best.
"Miss Halia is right. Nothing more would come out of us chatting here. Everyone, let's split into three parties, as we planned yesterday. And focus on completing the current mission." Digit said.
"We are not searching for Jasper?" Kiera asked, a tint of worry laced on her face.
"We will," Digit assured her.
"Umm… If you don't think I am speaking out of turn, could I suggest joining Mister Carter's group? Mister Lark here is an ex-rank and also a Mage. So, I don't think it would be a problem in terms of balance, would it?" Drevin spoke out, glancing at Kiera and Digit. Digit didn't answer and kept his hand under his chin in a thinking pose.
"I think it would be good. That way, he can be less worried about his sister, and Lark can handle most of the work on your side anyway." I put my own suggestion forward, not being able to bear the silence.
"If it's okay with you, then I don't have any problem with it." Digit finally agreed, and with Drevin throwing a silent thank you at me and not wasting any more time, we all hurried inside our tents to equip our gear.
The three siblings hugged each other and went into their groups. My group had Kiera, Drevin, and Jasper missing. Miss Luna led her group with Torian and Halia, and Digit took the lead with Lark, who lacked his usual playfulness. We discussed our plan once again and the steps we needed to take during an emergency. Mages were of the utmost importance here.
"We will be going in different directions. So along the way, search for any clues regarding Mister Jasper." Digit looked at all of us. "But the main priority is the tasks you all were assigned. Keep that in mind. I already sent a letter informing our situation to the guild. If there is no development by the end of the day, I would request their assistance." He shook his head. "I hope it doesn't come to that. Be careful, and thank you for your participation on such short notice." With that, he looked at me, and we nodded to each other. I checked everything more than twice, from equipment to supplies, and we all went in our specific directions on this yet-to-disappear night.
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I was with Halia outside the small entrance of a cave. She was sitting near a tree, drawing something on the ground with the other end of her wooden staff. I didn't bother to get a closer look, but after she finished scribbling, she got up and came to where I stood and asked me a random question: "Miss Luna, how old are you?"
"Why do you ask?"
"I just wanted to know. You look young, yet you carry a sort of mature air around you."
"I was raised like that."
"Then, your age?"
It didn't feel like she would leave the matter if I didn't answer. "I turned seventeen recently."
"I am one year younger than you then." She counted on her fingers. "My brother is also the same age as you, but he is not as strong as you."
"I am not as strong as you think." I gripped the hilt of the sword tied to my waist.
"I heard Mister Torian making comments on that, though? He was going on and on about how you were incredible. How you were stronger than Mister Lark. What do you say about that? For me, I think you are being overly modest."
"I am not. Irrespective of his personality, Mister Lark is stronger than me. Torian must have been defending me, but he didn't have to." I said, loosening my grip. "Nonetheless, I will soon become stronger than him or anyone, for that matter."
"If it's you, I am sure you can do it, Miss Luna. If not the Dancing Blade, then who can?" Don't call me that. "You are still young. You have a lot of potential for future growth." She patted my shoulder. Her words sounded more mature for her age, with no childishness to her tone. And for a moment, I wanted to believe those words.
"Being young is no excuse, Miss Halia."
"It's not." She showed a big smile, and Torian came out of the cave entrance, garnering our attention.
He was carrying a small lamp in his hand. It was used and burned out. I knew who that belonged to. "Is he inside?" I asked Torian, to which he only shook his head.
"I also found three tunnel entrances further back inside the cave. He must have gone into one of them."
"Any news from Cedric?"
"I couldn't get in contact with him or Shaka, for that matter." He said as he waited for my reaction. "Should we wait for a while, Miss Luna?"
"No, we will proceed as planned," I said, and the three of us went inside with Torian in the lead.
"Miss Luna, can I ask who you are talking about?" Halia asked curiously from my side. She had a bewildered look on her face.
"Just someone we know," Torian answered in my place.
I smelled a burnt scent as we stood before the three tunnel entrances. I closed my eyes and tried to perceive what was inside, but they went so deep that I could sense nothing. "We will split up here. Let's get back within four hours and wait outside the cave. In case anyone fails to do that, we will assume something happened. Is that okay?" To my words, they both nodded, and I went into the first one as they did with the other two.
I walked inside this dark tunnel, which became narrower and narrower as time went by. I covered my hand in blue Aura, which lit my only path. The burnt smell became more vivid, and when I observed carefully, the walls of the tunnel were shattered with bits of shards falling whenever I touched the side wall for support. And I could see the rocky terrain surrounding me was turning into a deep set of black, filled with a few reddish rocks as a part of it. Lava stones? And most of them were already ignited. With no free flow of air, the smell left by the ignited stones still lingered in the air. Looking forward, I thought I had to turn back because of how narrow the path was getting, but I saw a luminescent glow in the front. Thankfully, it was also the end of the tunnel.
When I got out, I was greeted with a big cave room, with the entire roof sparkling in the multitude of colours emanated by mana crystals. Seeing a Mana crystal cave came as a surprise to me, but it was short-lived as the different scene before my eyes gave even more of a shock. A rock bridge, connected to another entrance of the tunnel on the other side. Two lakes of water on either side of the bridge. And the dreadful scene of mangled monster corpses—the fish-like eyeballs that looked soulless and the size of their bodies close to a fully grown man—lying everywhere possible. On the bridge. Floating on the water surface. Splattered onto the cave walls. Burned and battered, intestines spread like the paint of monster meat. It was a scene that made me think about the horrific things that happened here.
When I took a step forward on the bridge of elevated rock, I heard sounds on both sides. Bubbles formed and vaporised instantly, and two creatures from either side jumped at me the next moment, making a trail of water along their path. I crouched a little, breathing in a lung full of air, and closed my eyes as my hand went onto the hilt of my sheathed sword. I opened my eyes, gripping the sword tightly, and pulled it while a blue coat of Aura covered the blade. With a circular swing that left a blue trail of my own, the four monster bodies split into numerous pieces mid-air, losing their momentum and falling to the ground as packs of raw meat. Their nasty blood became a momentary rain, seeped into some parts of my clothes, and dripped from the armour plates made of metal. I looked at the surface of the lake before swinging the sword to the side, and all the blood on the sword splattered on the ground at once as I sheathed it back again. I walked a few more steps forward on the rock-like bridge, inching closer to the tunnel in front of me. But I felt a presence behind me, and I stopped and turned back.
"No need to be on alert, Miss Luna." The unknown voice came from inside the tunnel exit I just came out of. The luminescence from the Mana crystals on the roof cast a dim light on the shadowy figure that walked out, the sound of his footsteps echoing throughout this cave room.
I narrowed my eyes. "What are you doing here?" I said as I looked at the figure walking towards me in slow, steady steps.
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There was this eerie darkness, yet we could tell it was daytime. The sudden rise in temperature and continuous sweating from the humid atmosphere were intense. I looked at Drevin walking behind me, who had a dull expression on his face, followed by Kiera beside him, with no discomfort being shown on her face. I thought it was strange, but the time both she and Jasper spent together was not more than a day. Yet I asked, slowing my pace. "Is something bothering you, Kiera?"
"Nothing. Why do you ask?"
"I mean, with Jasper missing and all, I thought you'd be more anxious."
"You don't believe he is dead, do you?" Her expression changed into a slight frown.
"No. But we can't completely eliminate that possibility." She didn't respond anymore.
"By the way, Mister Carter. Do all of you really believe there are monsters in this forest?"
"I still see them as nothing but rumours." I was earnest with my answer.
"But a while ago, you suggested that the disappearance of Jasper was related to a monster. Did you not believe your own words? Or…" She glanced at Drevin. "Like Mister Lark, are you suspecting my brother too?"
"Don't say that, Kiera!" Drevin came to my defence.
Putting his help aside, I spoke. "It's nothing like that. We don't know what happened to Jasper. Whatever everyone, including me, said could be considered mere assumptions. There is no proof to prove that, nor is there proof that your brother is the culprit. It doesn't need our opinions to support that facet. Lark was only trying to test the waters."
"Or trying to pin someone for that matter and be done with it." Her anger was genuine. Even though she looked to the other side, I could sense that from her words. Drevin was bowing awkwardly to me from one side and was trying to convince his own sister to calm down on the other side.
With an awkward silence, we continued to walk down the path, deeper and deeper into the forest, and in the distance, right beside a tree, I saw something. Using Aura through my eyes, I tried to get a better look as we three approached that place. There was a cart completely pulverised, with nothing inside. Looking around, I went near the tree beside it and saw rope marks on the trunk. "It feels like someone was attacked here."
"By what?" Kiera asked, carefully inspecting the scene. Drevin did the same.
"Could be merchants. They are the ones who usually pass through this area."
"Don't tell me they were attacked by a monster?" Drevin asked.
"I don't think so. I don't see anything that suggests a monster attack here. Look closely. Even if the cart was destroyed, there are no signs of teeth or claw marks on the shattered pieces of wood. There is no trace of human or monster blood, either. The marks on the wood trunk suggest that this group of people—assuming there were more than one—stayed here for some time. I mean, they bothered to tie their horses at the same spot as the place of attack? What are the chances?"
"Then where could they be now?" Kiera asked.
"Most probably still in the forest."
"How can you be so sure of that, Mister Carter? If they are merchants, as you suggested—even if they are not—their belongings, including their supply of food, are all empty. There is not even a trace that they carried anything in that cart. So, couldn't they have probably left the forest on horseback?" Kiera made a valid point.
"Yeah, that's possible. They could have tied their horses here to rest for some time and left after regaining their energy. But think this way, Kiera. No monster attacked, but the cart is in this state. It's one of these two options. Either they were attacked by a human enemy or they could have destroyed their carts by themselves."
"How did you reach the later decision, Mister Carter? Does that make any sense?" She thought my words had no reason.
"I can probably understand your confusion, and I am really stretching out my imagination here, but hear me out. If I were some bandit going to attack this merchant cart to steal their belongings, I would have done it. And if these merchants were skilled enough to fend off my attacks, there would have been a battle here, unless I tried to escape, seeing the overwhelming difference in power. This is quite unlikely because there are no reports of bandits in Misty Grove."
"You are assuming that. But there could have been ones who could have recently popped up, don't they? That goes the same with the monsters in this forest. There were none before."
"True. But I also strongly believe what I said earlier, mostly. The forest is the usual trade route, and any recent attacks, even in the form of rumours, would have been instantly known to the guild. And the pathways here are so twisted that it would usually take a very large group of people who know the ins and outs of this place to monitor everyone who enters and exits from here. And I don't need to mention the amount of visibility here, with thick fog surrounding us. So, here comes my second assumption, which is far-fetched but also possible looking at our current situation. These could be the infamous Masked Three. Disguised as merchants, they destroyed their own cart to make an act out of it to trap someone. In this case, our missing group of three adventurers. I know it sounds absurd and all—"
"Well done, Mister Carter!" She looked impressed as she clasped both her hands with a smile on her face. That should have been pleasant, but I felt disgusted for a moment. I didn't know what to say.
"Travelling with Lark is a good experience, except for his intolerable character," I said, smiling awkwardly.
"Mister Carter, I think the adventurers' last location is close to here." Ignoring me, Drevin said as he looked at the small map in his hands. I also opened mine to check, but I wasn't sure of the direction. The location marked on it was an estimate by the guild, and looking at the many paths in the front and back to us, I only got more confused. I was thinking about which route to take, as they would lead to different sides entirely. But I shouldn't have.
"I too think it is on that side," Kiera said in agreement with her brother. I forgot these two were Mages for a moment.
We walked again through this never-ending forest. In another few minutes, we reached a place that was a complete mess. A half-shattered tree on the ground. The ground, which was filled with the footprints of more than a few, The smell of wet soil and a pool of blood that seeped into it added a tinge of rusty, metal scent to this foggy air. All the information only hardened the facts. "It's this place. They fought here." Seeing the location myself, the premonition I felt a while ago was starting to take shape.
"The chance that they are alive is..." Drevin said in a low, hesitated voice.
"Nonexistent?" Followed by Kiera, who completed her brother's sentence.
"Look for anything that could tell the direction they went or any signs that at least one of them is alive."
"Do you think they would be?" Kiera asked in a nonchalant voice.
"Don't assume that, unless we find their bodies," I said, looking around us. The soil was still wet in some places. It must be from the ice Mage named Eveline. "What is the closest location to here?" I asked, and Drevin opened his map and calculated our approximate location and compared it with others.
"Mister Digit and Mister Lark are close to us." He said. "Even Miss Luna is not far. The entrance to the Ghost Dungeon is that way."
"Dead or alive, let us assume the rookie adventurers are still in this forest and do an expansive search after joining with those two first. They fought, so there is a chance someone could have escaped. Drevin, send a signal to Lark." I also found a broken bow dug half into the soil and a heavy footprint in the centre. It would be best to say they were overpowered by the Masked Three.
"I can't do that," Drevin said, watching over the shattered pieces of the tree and then looking back at me.
"What's the matter? Is something wron—" My words didn't bother to come out as I suddenly gasped for air. My body became stiff and my vision blurry. I tried to touch the foggy figure of Drevin that stood still, but my hands didn't move. A pulse of current ran through my entire being as I lost sensation of everything but the wet saliva in my mouth. Unaware of what was happening, I tried to cover myself in Aura.
"Now, that's not the right way to do it, Mister Carter." But Kiera's heavy voice rang in my ears, and my chest was pushed forward. I touched it. A sharp wooden staff, procuring out my chest, pierced straight out of my armour plate. My hand couldn't reach my sword at the side of my waist. I turned my head to find Kiera, who was close to my body, pushing the other end of the object that pierced my chest deeper with more force. I looked at my chest once again. It was her staff, glowing in green Aura. There was no pain, but as soon as she pulled it out, blood spurted out of the small hole in my chest and my mouth.
I looked at Drevin, who stood at a distance, once again. He had a creepy smile on his face, distorted by my senses. "W-Why?" I collapsed onto the ground and fell to my front. The numbing sensation started to fade. I heard someone getting closer but could offer no resistance. The scent of soil hit me as I was this close to my grave. Maya. The image of my little sister flashed through my mind. Another stab in the back of my chest made the pain overcome the little leftover numbness, and I succumbed to it entirely, leaving this world in peace.